Circumcision In Ancient Egypt

In 2010, about 58% of baby boys born in America were circumcised (The Baby Center). Although the practice had begun in the 1930s to curb rates of venereal diseases, sex before marriage, and masturbation, its roots can be traced all the way back to ancient Egypt. Being the oldest documented surgical procedure in the world, circumcision is believed to have been developed as a religious ritual, specifically amongst Africans and Jewish peoples. As told by a wall relief in the tomb of a minister of the Pharaoh Teti, ancient Egyptians had been practicing circumcision as early as the 23rd century B.C (Massry). Though the origin of circumcision is unclear, it is commonly accepted that it began as a religious sacrifice, a rite of passage that marks

To the ancient Greeks, circumcision was equivalent to mutilating any other part of the body and portraits dating back to this period depict penises with foreskin on them, except for portraits of those considered lesser than the Greeks, such as barbarians, lechers, and satyrs. This heavily implies that the Greeks not only disliked the mutilation, but that they disliked the look of it so much they associated circumcision with the evils of the world (Hodges). By the 2nd century, the only circumcising groups in the Roman Empire were Jews, Jewish Christians, Egyptian priests, and Nabataean Arabs. Hellenistic hatred for circumcision was so strong that when the Judean king John Hyrcanus conquered the Idumeans, he forced them to become circumcised and convert to Judaism (Suetonius: De Vita Caesarum

Maimonides, a Jewish philosopher, began to insist that circumcision should be only for the purpose of faith, for it is a difficult thing for someone to do to themselves and should only be done to “quell the impulses of matter” and to “perfect what is defective morally” (Maimonides). At this time, it had become apparent to most scholars that the foreskin of the penis allowed for greater sexual pleasure than would be possible otherwise. Maimonides believed that the bleeding and loss of covering weakened the penis, reducing a man’s lustful thoughts, leading to less pleasurable sex. In the 13th century, Isaac Ben Yediah, a disciple of Maimonides, proposed the idea that circumcision was the only way to reduce a woman’s sexual desires. He postulated that with non-circumcised men, she would always orgasm first, so her sexual appetite would grow, whereas with a circumcised man she would never orgasm, making her believe that sex is not very pleasurable an act (Davis). Though the logic is flawed, it shows the religious and moral philosophy behind the surgery. Dating back to the 23rd century B.C., circumcision is the oldest recorded surgical practice in history. With its origins dating back to the ancient Egyptians and upheld for millennia by the Jews, circumcision has become one of the most controversial medical practices to date, with its medical necessity and practicality being debated frequently.